Ammonia-free Sodium Sesquicarbonate

A new chemical is now available in the UK from a new production facility in Manchester: Sodium Sesquicarbonate free of any traces of ammonia

A new chemical is now available in the UK from a new production facility in Manchester.

Sodium sesquicarbonate is derived from the naturally occurring ore, Trona, but is not available in Europe.

The conventional European products are derived from the Ammonia Soda process, which liberates ammonia.

The East Lancashire Chemical Company has developed a production process that has a big advantage over other production techniques, as their Sodium Sesquicarbonate is manufactured by a process, which does not leave traces of ammonia in the final product.

The new ELCO version makes the chemical compound suitable for applications that other varieties would not be appropriate for, such as flue gas treatment, as it decomposes when heated to above 135C.

There are several ways of removing acid gases, mainly hydrochloric acid (HCl) and sulphur dioxide (SO2) from waste gas streams.

The most traditional scrubbing systems, ie wet scrubbing and spray driers, are typically high in capital costs, have significant space requirements for equipment and are difficult to maintain.

A cheaper alternative to wet scrubbing is the direct injection into the waste gas stream of reactants such as lime and sodium salts, either sodium bicarbonate or Soda Ash (sodium carbonate).

Lime is the cheapest of these products but has many disadvantages in the handing of the product and due to its corrosive properties, so sodium bicarbonate has become widely used for this process.

In the US, Sodium Sesquicarbonate has been used extensively as an alternative to Sodium Bicarbonate but it has not been used in Europe as the conventional product obtained from the Ammonia Soda process liberates ammonia on heating which can give further problems in the waste gas stream.

The Sodium Sesquicarbonate produced by the ELCO process is ammonia-free and therefore can be used for direct injection.

When heated to above 135C sodium sesquicarbonate decomposes rapidly to give a reactive sodium carbonate [2(Na2CO3.NaHCO3.2H2O) with heat becomes 3 Na2CO3 +5H2O + CO2].

The "popcorn-like" decomposition of the crystal creates a very reactive sodium carbonate on the surface that reacts with the gases in the waste stream in the following way.

Na2CO3+ 2HCl becomes 2NaCl + H2O + CO2.

Na2CO3+ SO2 + 0.5O2 becomes Na2SO4 + CO2.

Sodium Sesquicarbonate is a free-flowing mixed crystal of sodium carbonate and sodium bicarbonate with water of crystallisation.

It is non-caustic and dissolves rapidly and completely in water.

Sodium Sesquicarbonate has a low toxicity, and can be stored safely under normal conditions and handled without any adverse effects.

Sodium Sesquicarbonate is used for water softening in several applications for the removal of calcium and magnesium salts from the water: For example, in washing machine formulations for household and industrial applications.

It can also be used to provide pure water for use in industrial processes where the presence of these insoluble salts can cause problems: it can be used to purify boiler feed-water prior to use in industrial boilers to prevent the "furring" or build-up of inorganic salts.

Sodium Sesquicarbonate is available in 25kg bags, 40 per pallet, shrink-wrapped, 1 MT FIBC and in bulk road tankers for delivery direct to the customer silo.

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